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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27250495">Staring Into Hell</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbiiMaryy/pseuds/AbiiMaryy'>AbiiMaryy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Black Friday - Team StarKid, The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Angst, Apocalypse, But also canon compliant??, Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Multiverses are fun, One Shot, Psychic Abilities, Sad, They just want to go to California darn it, Zombie Apocalypse, apotheosis, powers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:14:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,162</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27250495</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbiiMaryy/pseuds/AbiiMaryy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Lex, Ethan and Hannah had one plan: save up as much money as they could and move to California. What they hadn't banked on, however, was a hoard of musical singing zombies infecting their small town. Now they're in a fight for their lives and California seems further away than ever...</p><p>The CaliforMIA trio during the apotheosis!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hannah Foster &amp; Ethan Green, Lex Foster &amp; Hannah Foster, Lex Foster/Ethan Green</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Staring Into Hell</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Ever since Black Friday, the idea of the characters during the apotheosis has been in the back of my mind and I eventually wrote this in August and with Nightmare Time coming out (which was FANTASTIC by the way) I thought now would be a good time to post it. Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lex had the day off from work the day after the meteor hit the theatre and she was planning on spending every moment with her boyfriend. They’d been planning it for weeks as it was the first day in a long time both of them had been off work at the same time. <br/>
As much as she liked getting the money from ToyZone she had to admit that retail was hell. From Sherman Young’s weird toy fetish to creepy delivery guys trying to hit on her or Linda Monroe breezing in spending thousands on all the latest toys and complaining about everything Lex did, it wasn’t exactly the easiest job. Ethan visited from time to time when he wasn’t working at his dad's garage but she still longed for her days off where she could do what she liked.</p><p>However that morning Hannah had refused to go to school. </p><p>“Webby says I shouldn’t.” she’d said determinedly “Bad music, Matthews, dead alive” she responded when asked what Webby said. Lex had simply sighed agreeing to take her sister with her on her day out. It wasn’t like Ethan would mind he loved Hannah like his own sister. <br/>
This was how Hannah, Lex and Ethan ended up in the food court of Lakeside Mall diving into a late breakfast paid for using Lex’s mall employee discount and a few spare savings left out of the California fund. </p><p>“So when we get out of here,” Ethan started pulling a map out of his pocket and spreading it out across the table in front of them. “We’ll take this route.” He pointed at a drawn on red line. “Through Cleveland, then on to Denver, then through to Vegas then on to LA.” Lex nodded tracking the route with her eyes. <br/>
“Are there motels or some shit to sleep in?” Ethan nodded.<br/>
“Yeah, there’s plenty. It’ll take us a while to get there but then we’ll be free and out of this shithole town.” Hannah smiled at them as she took a bite out of her toast but couldn’t ignore the unease stirring in her stomach. Something was wrong.<br/>
To most people, the atmosphere in the mall could seem quite normal. People wouldn’t notice the stirring of voices into one crescendo as people moved to join the song. They wouldn’t notice until it was too late. </p><p>Hannah, however, wasn’t most people.</p><p>“We need to go.” She tugged on Lex’s jacket the unease in her stomach growing. “Now.” Ethan furrowed his eyebrows.<br/>
“What’s shakin’ banana?” He questioned genuine concern apparent across his features. Hannah shook her head, growing increasingly panicked.<br/>
“Need to go. Now.” Lex sighed and got to her feet slinging her bag around her shoulders.<br/>
“Let’s go then.” </p><p>The group made to move towards the mall's exit and were almost there when all hell broke loose.</p><p>A man entered through the door a smile plastered on his face, his eyes vacant yet determined. He opened his mouth and began to sing. All around him people began to join in. All with the same vacant expression.<br/>
“What. The. Fuck?” Lex uttered as the song flew around the room surrounding her. Hannah pulled on her sleeve.<br/>
“Go. Now.” she insisted. Lex and Ethan were all too happy to oblige. They quickly piled into Ethan’s old car locking the doors behind them before talking again.<br/>
“What the fuck was that?” Lex questioned. Ethan shrugged.<br/>
“Some theatre kid bullshit probably. They’re doing that play at the high school next week aren’t they?” He sighed and Lex nodded.<br/>
“Yeah of course. That guy didn’t look like a teenager though.” Ethan hummed in agreement.<br/>
“Bad music,” Hannah stated quietly from the back. Ethan nodded.<br/>
“Yeah, the high school musicals are usually crap Banana you’re right.” Hannah frowned.<br/>
“No. Bad music.” </p><p>She pointed out the windshield to where hundreds of people were now flooding out the mall even from inside the car they could hear the unified singing. The trio watched as a woman exited her car and moved towards the crowd only to be shoved down, some blue substance flying from the group's hands. She got up moments later the same vacant look plastered on her face as she began to join in the song. It was at this point that the crowd turned to stare at the car where the others sat.</p><p>“WHAT. THE. FUCK?” Lex screamed barely believing her eyes as the crowd of people slowly started to move towards them. Ethan wasted no time turning on the car and hitting the accelerator.<br/>
“What the hell was that??” He questioned. “That woman… what the hell happened to her?” Lex shook her head. <br/>
“I have no clue but it sure as hell wasn’t a promotion for Grease unless Grease has some zombies I’m not aware of. ” They joined the queue of cars moving towards the highway as they drove down main street coming to a stop outside the CCRP office building to wait for the light to turn green. <br/>
“Bad music.” Hannah muttered “Matthews. Dead alive.” Ethan’s eyes flitted to meet Lex’s.<br/>
“What’d you say Banana?” He queried. <br/>
“Bad music, Matthews, Dead alive,” she repeated slowly. “Webby says it’s bad. To get away.”  Ethan nodded.<br/>
“I know somewhere we can go.”</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>They drove for a while in almost complete silence all of them nearly too stunned to say anything. They moved quickly onto the highway and soon Ethan was taking them across to the other side of the island. Away from town. The more distance they managed to put between themselves and the mall the more comfortable the three children became. Lex began to fiddle with the nobs of the radio trying to catch a signal. Every so often she would get some pop tune or another before the signal dropped out and they were faced with static again. Eventually, she managed to get ahold of a stable connection.</p><p><em> Welcome to the Hatchetfield action news with Dan and Donna </em> the radio trilled happily before the two presenters began to speak.<br/>
“ <em> Now for an update on the strange occurrences rippling throughout Hatchetfield. </em> ” Dan began his usual jolly persona far more subdued.<br/>
“ <em> It seems a strange virus is spreading throughout Hatchetfield causing more and more citizens to begin to sing and dance. Citizens are advised to-“ </em> She cut off as some disturbance echoed from outside the studio. <br/>
“ <em> They’ve got in!” </em> A panicked voice could be heard. Donna took a deep steadying breath before continuing.<br/>
“ <em> Citizens are advised to stay home and wait for further instructions.” </em> Suddenly a large crash could be heard through the car's speakers as a melody drifted into the studio. “ <em> Stay safe Hatchetfield. </em>” Donna said quickly before the song of the studio's invaders overtook the airwaves and chaos ensued. Large clattering and bangs could be heard by the three children in the car as the radio continued to broadcast while the studio was invaded. A single scream was heard before a large bang and then the radio returned to static. Lex quickly switched the radio off.</p><p>“Shit,” she stated simply turning to look at Ethan with her eyes wide. “The fuck are we going to do?” She questioned. Ethan gave her a small smile.<br/>
“We’ll head to Clivesdale and then we’ll see where we go from there. The bridge is just on the other side of this hill.” He nodded to the road in front of him. They moved over the top of the hill and were greeted with a view of the Hatchetfield harbour and shipyard alongside the bridge connecting Clivesdale and Hatchetfield. It wasn’t an uncommon view, the people of Hatchetfield would pass through this road on the way to Clivesdale and the subsequent mainland all the time. Except the view wasn’t how it usually was.</p><p>“The bridge-“ Ethan gasped quietly looking out at the raised bridge creating a divide between Hatchetfield and the outside world. “They’ve trapped us in.” The panic was beginning to settle into his bones. “We’re trapped on this shithole island with those things-“ Lex and Hannah’s eyes were wide with fear.<br/>
“What do we do?” Lex asked quickly. “We can’t go back into town those things will be everywhere by now and they’ll be heading this way.” Ethan nodded his mind moving quickly as he scanned through the possible options of places they could go. The trailer park was off-limits it was so close to the mall, the school would be overrun by now, downtown was probably just as bad. Then it hit him.<br/>
“I know somewhere.” He said simply before slamming on the accelerator and heading into the valley.<br/>
“Ethan the bridge is closed there’s nowhere to go this way-“ Lex started but was silenced as Ethan quickly swerved down a dirt track almost invisible in its cover of the undergrowth. They were quickly surrounded by trees as they moved into the forest, the track bumpy.</p><p>“My dad and I had a job down here a few years ago. It’s maybe the most isolated place on the island.” He explained. “It’s not far now.” Lex nodded and sat back in her seat before turning backwards at Hannah. <br/>
The young girl's eyes were wide again and she seemed to be twitching in the way she sometimes did. <br/>
“Webby?” Lex questioned quietly recognising the signs of Hannah talking to her imaginary friend. Hannah nodded. <br/>
“She says… that we’re safe for now. Good place. Um, that I need to stay with you.” Lex nodded.<br/>
“You’re not going anywhere Banana. I’ll protect you if it kills me I promise.”</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The three kids pulled up outside a wooden cabin nestled into the middle of the woods.<br/>
“Where the fuck are we?” Lex questioned sliding out the car, her eyes darting around and scanning the scene for any sign of life. <br/>
“It’s a log cabin.” Ethan stated, moving towards the door. Lex gave a slight laugh.<br/>
“Yeah, no shit.” She smiled at her boyfriend. “Who lives here?” She asked. Ethan nodded as he pulled out a few scraps of wire and inserted them into the lock of the door in the way Lex had seen him do many times before. <br/>
“I believe this one belongs to the Monroe family.” He stuck his tongue out in concentration as he focused on picking the lock. “Barely anyone comes out here. I think Dr Monroe uses it for hunting or some other rich people shit. We got called out here to do some repairs on their car a few years ago. I’m surprised I even remember it.” Lex nodded.<br/>
“Thank god you did.” Ethan made a satisfied noise as the doors lock clicked and the door swung open revealing an elaborate entrance hall. </p><p>There were racks for putting shoes on and hooks for hanging coats it then led to the main room which then moved out with doors leading to a bathroom and some bedrooms. <br/>
“You could fit our entire trailer in this room.” Lex scoffed and Ethan nodded.<br/>
“It’s shit right?” Lex couldn’t help but hum in agreement.<br/>
“I’m hoping that we could stay here a little bit,” Ethan explained. “It’s pretty isolated we can stay here until the government or army or whatever deals with this. That’s what happens right?” Lex shrugged.<br/>
“They do in movies. If we’re gonna stay here we’re gonna need supplies though.” she stated her eyes darting around the room. “Any chance there’s any food left in those cupboards?” She moved over to the nearest cupboard Hannah trailing closely behind her and pulled open the door.<br/>
“Holy shit.” She said simply as she took in the canned food covering the shelves. “I fucking hate rich people.” she sighed looking over the labels of the various cans. “There’s enough food here to feed the entire trailer park for a week.” Ethan hummed in agreement. He was looking in another cupboard on the other side of the kitchen.<br/>
“Hey Banana.” He turned to the two girls. “They have that chocolate pudding you like.” Hannah’s eyes lit up in delight as Ethan held up a small can of chocolate pudding towards her. “Have it now.” he offered. “You deserve it.” Hannah beamed as she bounced over to retrieve the can before retreating towards the table at the other end of the room.</p><p>Ethan watched her go a slight smile on his face as he pulled Lex towards the nearest door. It opened into a bedroom complete with a double bed and a large dresser. <br/>
“I didn’t want to say anything with Hannah nearby.” He started. “She’s scared enough as it is but Lex what the fuck did we just witness? Those people they were-“<br/>
“Turning into a musical?” His girlfriend pulled him to sit next to her on the bed. “It was fucked up. I don’t know what happened but it didn’t look good and the people on the radio and-“ Ethan grabbed her hand.<br/>
“I don’t want to lose you.” he started and Lex nodded. <br/>
“I don’t want to lose you either. We’ll get through it, right? We’re fighters remember? Just you watch this will blow over soon and then-“ Ethan grinned at her.<br/>
“And then we’ll leave for California.” A smile bloomed over his girlfriends face although it didn’t completely erase the concerned look in her eyes it certainly masked it.<br/>
“Should we keep seeing what shit we can raid?” she raised an eyebrow at him and he grinned before getting up from the bed.<br/>
“Sure thing babe.”</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The cabin, it turns out, was fairly well stocked. While some things turned out to be absolute rubbish like the dresser full of lingerie in varying shades (It seems they found the site of Mrs Monroe’s rumoured affairs. Especially as a tie with a name tag displaying it as <em> Property of Gary Goldstein, Attorney in Law </em> was discovered shoved under the dresser (“I didn’t know they boned!” Lex had commented upon finding it causing a laugh to escape from Ethan)) but some aspects of the materials found within the cabin were perfect. A search of the storeroom at the side of the cabin had revealed a stash of hunting rifles alongside numerous boxes of bullets. <br/>
“We can use those if things go south.” Ethan had commented, picking up a few of the boxes and moving them into the main room where they’d got a stack of supplies piled up. </p><p>Hannah was still acting strange. Every so often she would begin twitching ever so slightly as she stared blankly off into the distance before muttering more strange sequences of words. It wasn’t entirely abnormal for the girl to act like that, she’d been doing it for as long as Lex could remember but it had never been this frequent. She settled down on the sofa next to her sister.<br/>
“You okay?” she questioned slowly as her sister turned to look at her, her dark eyes were wide and questioning as she shook her head.<br/>
“Not okay.” she stated simply. “Webby says it’s bad.” Lex nodded slowly.<br/>
“Why does Webby think it’s bad?” Hannah shrugged.<br/>
“Bad music, Matthews, Dead alive.” she repeated. “That’s all she says.” Lex hummed.<br/>
“We’ll keep you safe Banana you know that right? Ethan and I won’t let anything happen to you I promise.” Hannah gave her a weak smile. <br/>
“I know.” Lex smiled back at her.<br/>
“Now you little miss need to get some sleep.” As if by magic Hannah yawned and nodded. <br/>
“Sleep sounds nice.” she muttered as she drifted towards the room which she’d taken to sleeping in for the past few nights.</p><p>Lex watched her go before readjusting herself on the sofa and flicking on the television. It came to light in flickering colour showing some random comedy. It was too bright and happy for what their situation was. Lex changed the channel again. This time it was some romance movie. The love interests were passionately making out. Lex made to change the channel again but was startled by a laugh from behind her.<br/>
“If you wanted to make out you could have just told me, babe.” Ethan grinned at her as he moved to sit next to her on the sofa. “No need for communicating through the tv.” Lex laughed as she moved to lean against him nestling her head on his shoulder. <br/>
“Haha very funny,” she commented looking up at the boy. “But then again I wouldn’t be opposed to it.” Ethan raised an eyebrow at her before leaning down to press his lips to hers. Lex could practically feel all the stress of the past few days melt out of her as Ethan kissed her. All thoughts of musical zombies and how to protect herself, her sister and her boyfriend left her mind as all she focused on was the feel of Ethan’s lips on hers, the way his hair felt as she ran her fingers through it, the press of his hands as on her waist as he pulled her closer. She was content. </p><p>That was until a knock sounded at the door.</p><p>The couple quickly broke apart both of their eyes widening as they looked towards the source of the noise.<br/>
“Was that-“ Ethan began but was cut off by another knock sounding from the door. The boy quickly moved over to the side of the room picking up the hunting rifle and holding it steady in his hands. <br/>
“Hello? Is anyone in there?” A lilting female voice called out. “You have to help me.” It seemed to beg. “Everyone is singing I don’t know what to do.” Lex frowned before slowly moving towards the door and staring through the peephole. The person stood outside was not who she would have expected. She had long brown hair that fell in curls down her back, she had donned a bright pink jacket over a white t-shirt complete with a skirt. <br/>
“It’s Alice Woodward.” Lex turned to look at Ethan. “Do we let her in?”</p><p>Lex and Ethan weren’t particularly friends with Alice, more acquaintances. The girl had gone to school with them since kindergarten before her parent's divorce forced her to move to Clivesdale. Even then they’d seen each other from time to time. Lex and Ethan had sold weed to her girlfriend and her friends on more than one occasion. <br/>
“Please.” Alice pleaded again. “Those things keep killing people. They shot my dad and Deb keeps singing and I don’t know what to do. I’ve been wandering through the woods all night. I’m scared.” She let out a small sob. Lex turned to look at Ethan her eyebrows furrowed.<br/>
“What do we do?” she hissed at him and the boy shrugged. “We can’t just leave her out there- It’s not like she’s singing or anything.”. Ethan nodded. <br/>
“Open the door slowly.” He said quietly. “I’ll keep the gun pointed and I’ll stop her if it goes wrong.” Lex nodded and slowly moved to open the door.</p><p>The girl practically started sobbing again as the door swung open.<br/>
“Lex, Ethan thank god.” she moved slowly through the doorway. “Thank you so much for letting me in. It’s so scary. The whole town has been infected I thought I was one of the only ones left.” Her voice had a melodic ring to it. The teen couple shared a concerned glance.<br/>
“What do you mean?” Ethan asked slowly. The girl looked at them.<br/>
“The apotheosis. That’s what they call it.” she explained. “These people are being taken over by aliens. They make them sing and stuff. They’re part of a hivemind.” Lex nodded.<br/>
“And everyone’s been infected.” Alice bobbed her head in agreement. <br/>
“When they try to resist infection they kill them.” A small smile spread across the girls face.<br/>
“Which I suppose is what. You’re. Doing.” A tune slowly began to spread through her words. “A choice that you’ll regret as the apotheosis takes root in your mind.” She turned towards them. Her eyes were vacant and a dreamy smile was plastered on her face. Her eyes lit up with some sort of fury as she lunged toward Lex her long nails leaving deep scratches in her skin as the other girl dived out of her reach.</p><p>A gunshot rang out throughout the cabin and the girl in pink fell to the floor. A pool of blue blood forming around her. Ethan stood breathing heavily as he looked down at the gun he’d just used to end someone’s life.<br/>
“Are you okay?” he questioned. Lex could barely respond in shock. <br/>
“She- You- I-“ Lex stuttered. “She was one of them?” She meant for it to be a statement but the sentence came out more like a question. Ethan nodded.<br/>
“If the blue blood is anything to go by yeah.” He quickly dropped the gun to the floor and moved towards his girlfriend. “Your neck.” He carefully lifted her head to look at the deep gashes in Lex’s skin. “Those look painful.” Lex gave a slight chuckle.<br/>
“What gave you that impression? The blood or the bright red skin?” Ethan hummed. <br/>
“We need to get those cleaned up. They’re hardly life-threatening but with our luck, you’ll end up getting an infection or something.” Lex grinned at him.<br/>
“You saying I’m dirty Green?” Ethan let out a small laugh.<br/>
“Dirty-minded certainly.” He replied as the girl giggled. </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The couple spent a few hours cleaning up. It took both of them to move the body of what had once been Alice out of the cabin and into the woods where they abandoned it. Then they had to attempt to wipe up the blood (or whatever the blue shit was) but eventually, the cabin looked as if nothing had ever happened. Well, not entirely but they’d done a pretty good job.<br/>
“You should get some sleep.” Ethan said as they looked over their handiwork. “We can take it in turns keeping a lookout for whatever those things are.” Lex nodded.<br/>
“If anything happens you wake me up immediately.” She commanded. “You sure as hell don’t try and face those things yourself. You hear me? I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.” Ethan nodded.<br/>
“I promise.” Lex made to move towards the room where Hannah was sleeping before he grabbed her hand twisting her around to face him and pulling her into his chest. “I love you, Lex.” He whispered to her. A smile spread across his girlfriends face. How anybody could look so beautiful when they were on the run from musical singing zombies was a mystery.<br/>
“I love you too.” Lex leaned up to kiss him slowly and softly. “I’ll see you soon.” Ethan nodded and Lex moved away towards the bedroom.</p><p>Hannah was fast asleep when she entered. She’d taken her hair out of her normal braids and it fanned around her head creating a halo of dark hair. She had Ethan’s old hat clutched in her hand and she was curled up under the covers. It hit Lex just how small her sister looked, she was barely a teenager and she had already gone through so much. From their mother and her drunken rages to the kids at school being less than kind about Hannah’s differences, Hannah hadn’t exactly had the most perfect life. </p><p>And now she was dealing with this. It didn’t seem fair.</p><p>Lex kicked off her boots and climbed into bed next to her sister curling up on her side and lay listening to the even breathing of Hannah next to her. <br/>
“We’ll get out of here.” she whispered reaching out to gently brush a loose strand of hair from Hannah’s face. “They won’t get to you Banana. Not while I’m still alive and fighting.” Soon the exhaustion of the day fell over the teen and she fell into unconsciousness.</p><p>While Lex slept, Ethan had taken to pacing around the living room. His eyes were fixed on the door as he fiddled with the gun in his hands. The gun he’d used to kill Alice.<em> It wasn’t really her </em> the rational voice inside his head was saying. <em> It was one of those… things </em>. He’d been protecting Lex. That thing had tried to rip her throat out. It didn’t stop him feeling guilty as memories of Alice floated around his head: the way she’d proudly stood up on their first day of school and declared her name and promptly said her favourite colour was pink. The way she’d shined in the school play when they were 10 singing the song perfectly. The way she’d never even come out of the closet. Not really. She’d just started dating Deb and that had been the end of it. Not that some people hadn’t had some reservations. He had a clear memory of Deb punching some jock or other who’d made a joke about it one time. One memory came floating back to him. The last time he’d seen her. Ethan had taken to selling weed to help get some extra cash for the California fund. It didn’t pay much but it was enough. One of his regular customers was Deb and her crowd of stoner friends. They were the usual middle-class teens looking for a bit of rebellion. Alice had been there the last time he’d sold to them. She’d looked deeply uncomfortable and had turned down the joint when it was offered to her. She had given him a small smile as he passed her and he’d smiled back it wasn’t often people apart from Lex and Hannah smiled at him now. He’d managed to get a reputation as a ‘bad boy’ which was hardly true but Hatchetfield was a small town and once something got around it stuck. So Ethan was stuck as the bad boy and people rarely smiled at him anymore. But Alice had. She’d smiled at him and it had caused his chest to fill with that warm feeling of happiness.</p><p>And now she lay dead, her body disposed of in the woods.</p><p>He shook his head. It wasn’t productive to think about what Alice had been now. It wasn’t Alice that Ethan had opened fire on. It had been one of those things, part of the apotheosis. That was what she’d said, wasn’t it? Whatever it was this blue shit was spreading like wildfire and it was getting more dangerous. The people at the mall hadn‘t been violent. They just kind of forced people into joining them. The thing using Alice’s body had been bloodthirsty. It had practically grinned as it tried to hurt Lex. This thing wasn’t stopping. It was getting more determined and it was going to come for them eventually. Hopefully later rather than sooner. Ethan was drawn out of his thought by a large crack like someone stepping on a twig echoing through the cabin. He quickly scanned around the house looking in the direction of the sound and on the other side of the large clearing that made for the cabin's garden hidden amongst the trees was the grinning face of Tom Houston, a bloodthirsty glint in his eyes as he locked eyes with the boy.</p><p>“Shit.” </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Lex was brought out of her sleep by Ethan yelling. He was screaming at the top of his lungs. <br/>
“Lex. Wake up.” He screamed. “They’re here.” Lex quickly shook Hannah awake and the girl groaned in annoyance before falling silent as she looked into the panicked face of her sister. <br/>
“Get in the closet.” Lex said nodding towards the door. “I’ll barricade you in. Stay quiet.” The young girl nodded before quickly moving into the small cupboard shutting the door behind her. Lex quickly moved to push the bed against the door. She didn’t know how much good it would do against those zombie fuckers but she sure as hell wasn’t going to make it easy for them to get to her sister. </p><p>She ran through the door into the main room where Ethan stood silently clutching the hunting rifle. Another one lay on the table and Lex quickly picked it up.<br/>
“Hannah?” Ethan quickly questioned sparing only a moment to glance at her.<br/>
“Hiding.” Lex replied simply following his eyeline to where a group of the things were silently stood as still as statues. “What are they doing?” she questioned. Ethan took a deep breath in.<br/>
“I think- I think they’re waiting for us to go out there.” Lex bit her lip and turned to him.<br/>
“Should we?” The boy turned to look at her his dark eyes staring into hers.<br/>
“We’re sitting ducks just waiting here. This way we can distract them and-“<br/>
“Keep them away from Hannah.” His girlfriend finished practically reading his mind. “Ethan if I don’t make it-“ the boy shook his head.<br/>
“You will. You’re stronger than these fuckers Lex. God, I love you so much.” Lex gave him a small smile before leaning in to press her lips to his.<br/>
“I love you too. So together?” She held out her hand. The boy nodded and took it.<br/>
“Together.” </p><p>And so the two teens stepped outside.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The entire treeline was full of people. All of them staring hungrily at the two teens in the clearing. Yet they didn’t move.<br/>
“Lex Foster and Ethan Green.” Tom Houston began speaking. “Two of my favourite pupils I thought you’d be smarter than to resist us.” Lex let out a shallow laugh.<br/>
“Oh yes how stupid of me not to want to become a mindless alien zombie thing. Shut the fuck up. We know why you’re here so why don’t you just get on with it.” The people around the trees laughed.<br/>
“Oh don’t worry. We’re just getting started.” Some redheaded woman in nurses scrubs called to them. Suddenly as if someone had flipped a switch an eerie sort of singing filled the woods. The words slipping easily from each person's throats.</p><p>They slowly began to inch forward towards the pair. Lex gripped the gun she was holding tight before aiming it towards the crowd of people and firing. A man crumpled to the ground and then all hell broke loose. The people all began moving faster at once practically sprinting at them as across the clearing. Both teens quickly held up their guns and began to open fire on the crowd of people moving towards them.</p><p>It wasn’t enough. </p><p>It was Linda Monroe that managed to get to Lex first. She barreled into her shoving the girl to the ground, causing her to hit her head on the ground. Momentarily seeing stars, it was all Lex could do to aim and shoot at the woman looming above her. She got splattered with blue gore from the bullet wound in the woman’s head. The next person managed to hit her nose creating a waterfall of blood to begin to fall from one nostril. It carried on this way for a while more and more people moving towards them, trying to get to them. A song still emerging from their lips.</p><p>It was at this point that everything went wrong.</p><p>Ethan had been fighting remarkably well. He’d fended off more people than he could count even managing to stop some being able to reach Lex but the number of people kept growing and one of them managed to wrestle the gun from his arms. He managed to kick it out their hands and it went flying through the air to land in some unknown location. It was at this point Ethan had to start fighting hand to hand. He still managed to fend off the monsters, although not as easily as he had with the gun. He had just managed to subdue some random homeless man when a gunshot rang out throughout the clearing. </p><p>A sharp pain wracked through his chest.</p><p>“<em> Lex </em> ” he managed to gasp out before he crumpled to the floor. <br/>
Lex barely heard her boyfriends cry over the noise of the singing but she spared a moment to turn around and that was when her entire world fell apart. She let out a single scream that seemed to ripple around the forest and the things had suddenly disappeared.<br/>
If she’d been thinking clearly Lex would have noticed a clear barrier of energy brush past them all as they disappeared in its wake as if they had never been there.</p><p>Lex fell to her knees next to Ethan. His chest was slowly rising and falling as a bright blossom of red spread across his shirt.<br/>
“Ethan.” Lex gasped pulling him into her arms. The boy smiled weakly at her.<br/>
“Hey, Lex-” He grunted in pain. Lex shushed him.<br/>
“You’re going to be fine.” She tried to reassure him, tears flowing down her face. “You’re not leaving me now you hear me. You’re going to be fine and then-“ Ethan reached up to cup her face, wiping the tears from her cheeks.<br/>
“You’re going to get California Lex. I’ll get you there and then you don’t have to cry so much no more.” Lex nodded.<br/>
“Yes, California with Hannah. We’ll live in a tiny apartment at first just like we said. Hannah will go to school and I’ll be an actress and-“<br/>
“We’ll be happy.” Ethan wheezed his breathing hitching. He locked eyes with her.<br/>
“So beautiful…” he breathed before his chest fell still.</p><p>That was the moment Lex’s world shattered.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Ethan wasn’t gone. He couldn’t be gone. This was all just a bad dream she’d wake up in her bed in the trailer and Ethan will be right there making some joke or another. He’d walk her to her shift at ToyZone like he always did before heading off to work himself. The body lying before her was just a dream, right? <em> Right </em>?? </p><p>But time kept passing and with every passing second, Lex started to realise the reality of the situation. Tears fell freely down her face now as she looked down into the face of the man she loved. He looked so peaceful, the light breaking through the trees lit up his eyes making them sparkle. But they were unseeing, staring blankly up at the sky that they couldn’t see.</p><p>He was gone. Ethan was gone and he wasn’t coming back.</p><p>“Alexandra Foster?” a voice spoke from behind her. It was a man dressed in some sort of military outfit. He had long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail with a hat upon his head. Lex’s eyes grew wide as she scrambled to reach for her gun.<br/>
“Who- who are you?” She questioned. “Don’t come near me I’ll shoot.” The man laughed quietly.<br/>
“Quite sensible really. I could be one of those things you never know.” </p><p>Lex’s furrowed her eyebrows as the man began to take a step towards her. She opened fire and watched as the bullet sailed through the man's chest to embed in the tree behind it. The man himself turned to look at it.<br/>
“Fascinating.” He commented before turning back around to face her.<br/>
“Are you a ghost or some shit?” Lex gasped out confused. “Why did that not do anything-“ The man nodded.<br/>
“I suppose a ghost is one way of putting it. Lex, I’m General John Macnamara of US Military Regiment Special Unit PEIP. We call it Peep. Or at least I was until today.” Lex stared at him blankly.<br/>
“You mean- those things- they-“ Macnamara nodded.<br/>
“They ambushed us. Me and my entire squad. We were infected before we even knew what had happened.” Lex looked up at the general.<br/>
“So you’re dead?” He nodded solemnly.<br/>
“If you’re referring to the fact that my body is now being operated by an alien virus leaving my soul to float aimlessly in the Black and White then yes.” Lex frowned.<br/>
“The Black and White?” The general grimaced slightly.<br/>
“A space outside of all dimensions. Home to entities both ageless and foul. That’s where my soul now resides.” <br/>
“But if you’re in this other dimension how can I see you?” The man leaned towards her.<br/>
“Has anything strange ever happened to you, Lex? Have you ever seen something that wasn’t really there or reached out to grab something from midair that wasn’t there before? Or perhaps” he gestured around. “caused an entire army of infected people to disappear simultaneously.” Lex looked around for the first time only now registering the disappearance of the people she’d been too wrapped up in her grief to notice.<br/>
“You mean I did that?” Macnamara nodded.<br/>
“You have a power Lex, your sister too.” The teen's eyebrows shot up.<br/>
“Wait Hannah can do this too? She can-“ Then something clicked in her brain. “Webby.” The man nodded. “She’s real? Is that why Hannah could always sense danger and-“ the man nodded. <br/>
“You’re one of few people I’ve met who have the ability to manipulate the fabric of time and space between our reality and the Black and White and with you and your sister combined possibly the most powerful.” Lex nodded slowly.<br/>
“But how can it help me?” She whispered. “Ethan- He-“ A sad look moved over the generals face before it was replaced with a look of understanding.<br/>
“I’m afraid it’s already too late to save your boyfriend but you still may be able to save your sister. If you can get her off the island and to the mainland she should be safe. The infection is only limited to Hatchetfield.” </p><p>He reached out to the gun holster attached to his uniform. “Alexandra I’m authorising you to use my firearm. Take it, get your sister and get to the mainland. There’s a boat hidden in the cove down the path next to the CRRP warehouse. Take it and get away from here.” Lex tried to reach out to grab the gun but her fingers moved right through it.<br/>
“I can’t take it.” She grunted in frustration. The man gave her a stern but encouraging look like one a father or teacher might give you. <br/>
“You can. Manifest this into your reality. Imagine it there and take it.” The girl focused intensely on the weapon in front of her. Scrunching her eyes tightly closed. In a swift motion, she reached out to feel the cold metal of the pistol in her hands. <br/>
“Good luck Lex.” The man smiled at her. “Godspeed now.” And just as suddenly as he appeared he had vanished into thin air. </p><p>Lex slowly turned back to her boyfriend. Ethan lay on the ground still. He looked almost peaceful laying there. If not for the paleness of his skin and his glassy stare you could almost believe he was sleeping. The girl looked down into his face before leaning forward to place one final kiss to his lips.<br/>
“Ethan I’m so sorry.” she sobbed. “I’ll get Hannah to California. We’ll make it. I promise.” She moved to close his eyelids before walking slowly to the edge of the woods where a slew of wildflowers grew. <br/>
Slowly, Lex picked them until her arms were filled with the plants. Flowers of every colour rustled slowly as she moved to thread them through the boy's hair. A flower crown. How many times had he made them for Hannah?<br/>
She made quick work of it leaving her boyfriend surrounded and covered by a small rainbow of floral growth.<br/>
“Goodbye, Ethan.” Lex whispered. “I love you so much.” and she turned to walk back into the house.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Hannah was just where Lex left her curled up in the closet. Her cheeks were stained with tears when Lex opened the door.<br/>
“Lexi?” The girl looked up at her slowly. “Ethan- He-“ Lex nodded slowly as she moved to hold the younger girl in her arms. <br/>
“He’s gone Banana. He was protecting you. You know that right? He wanted you to be safe. We’re gonna get you to safety now. I know a way off the island.” Hannah’s eyes rose up to Lex’s a slight glimmer of hope was visible behind the tears. “Do you trust me, Hannah?” The girl nodded.<br/>
“Of course.” Lex held out her hand slowly. <br/>
“Then we need to go.”</p><p>The two sisters moved slowly out the cabin Lex holding the pistol carefully in her hands her eyes constantly scanning for any threats. Hannah stayed close behind her.<br/>
“So tell me about Webby.” Lex started. Glancing to flash a small smile at her sister. Hannah smiled back.<br/>
“She’s a spider,” Hannah stated simply. “She’s kind and she tells me things. Like about the bad music.” Lex’s eyes grew wide as she had a sudden flashback to the morning before everything went (to put it simply) to shit. Hannah had mentioned bad music.<br/>
“So she tells you the future?” She asked trying to keep her sister distracted as they slowly trekked back through the woods. Hannah shook her head.<br/>
“Not really. She just tells me things. Webby is good. She stops the bad things from getting me.” A sudden rustle to their left had Lex quickly swinging around to face the direction of the sound. To come face to face with a squirrel. <br/>
“Bad things?” Lex questioned seeing her sister's panicked face at the sudden flash of fear brought on by the sound. “Like what?” <br/>
“Bad, bad things.” Hannah stated. “They want to hurt me and you and everyone.”<br/>
“Shit.” was Lex’s only reply. </p><p>Soon they were getting close to the edge of the wood as the trees were beginning to thin. They’d managed to make their way back to the hill looking down into the valley and what they saw was not a pretty sight.<br/>
“Fuck.” Lex said as she looked down. </p><p>The shipyard was full of people, all of them clearly infected. They could hear the singing from here. “How the fuck are we supposed to get-“ Hannah carefully slipped her hand into her sisters and pointed towards a van parked a little way down the hill. It had been abandoned for a few days. “Hannah you’re a genius.” Lex exclaimed turning to give her sister a huge smile. The two Foster sisters slowly worked their way down the hill to where the van sat. It was locked but Lex quickly smashed the window and unlocked the door from the inside.<br/>
“Hop in Banana.” She leaned over to open the other door and her sister slid in. Ethan had once taught Lex how to hotwire a car when she was hanging around the garage one time while he was working. She’d laughed at him then making some joke about how she’d never need a skill like that. It came in handy now. It took her a few tries but the car suddenly burst to life.<br/>
“Okay then.” Lex sighed bracing herself on the wheel. “Let’s get off this fucking island.” </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>They drove slowly down the hill at first trying to remain inconspicuous to the crowds below. They sat silently watching the hoards of infected grow closer and closer and as they did their song got louder. Lex reached out to put a reassuring hand on her sister's leg.<br/>
“I’m gonna get you off this island Han.” she said quickly. “Whatever it takes.” Hannah nodded slowly as the van rounded the corner to come face to face with a wall of people.<br/>
They were moving in perfect formations as they danced. The song was falling perfectly from their throats. In a fluid motion, all the dancing came to a stop as the crowds took in the people sat in the van.</p><p>“Alexandra and Hannah Foster.” One person in the front smiled. He had grey hair and wore a black turtleneck. “We meet once again. Are you finally ready to succumb to your apotheosis?” Lex breathed out a laugh.<br/>
“Like hell I am.” She hit the accelerator causing the van to go barrelling into the crowd sending people flying. “CRRP. CRRP.” Lex muttered slowly glancing quickly around at the various warehouses surrounding the wharf before locking eyes on the building. The crowd had started to thin as the infected moved to get out of the way of the speeding van and Lex was able to quickly move to park the van as the two sisters scrambled out.<br/>
“We need to head down that path there Hannah.” Lex pointed as the girls moved to run down the path away from the ever-advancing hoard of people. Lex had just reached the opening of the path when a voice sounded from behind her.</p><p>“Lex-“ the voice called out and it forced Lex to stop in her tracks. There stood at the front of the crowd was Ethan. He looked a far cry from the corpse she’d left in the clearing. His face was no longer pale, it was rosy even. His eyes were bright and alive.<br/>
“Ethan.” the teen gasped out looking into the face of what had once been her boyfriend.<br/>
“That’s right.” A female voice sounded from behind Ethan. Lex looked into the face of her mother. “Everyone you’ve ever loved is here Lex. We’re happy now. Join us and you can be too.” A small hand slipped into Lex’s own as she turned to see the concerned eyes of her sister.<br/>
“No.” Lex said. “That’s not Ethan. That’s some shitty reincarnation of him. The real Ethan died-“ her voice faltered slightly. “died in that clearing. Protecting us from you! And as for you,” she turned to face her mother “I’ve spent my whole life trying to get away from you. I sure as hell am not going to join you now. The only living person I love is Hannah.” she squeezed her sister's hand. “And we’re getting off this shithole of an island.” </p><p>With that, the two sisters began to sprint down the path towards the cove. The crowd followed closely behind them but they relied on strength in numbers and the narrowness of the path restricted them. <br/>
“Keep running Hannah.” Lex called as she turned to blindly fire the pistol into the oncoming crowd hearing a thump from behind as the bullet downed someone. The path opened onto a tiny cove that wasn’t particularly beautiful in one way or another a grey strip of sand marked the water's edge and the lake water looked dark and polluted. But sitting there proudly bobbing in the water was a small paddle boat. Hannah jumped in as Lex made to push the boat further into the water.</p><p>The crowd of infected people began to spill onto the beach some song or another falling from their throats once more. Now they were no longer restricted by the narrow alley they were gaining on the two sisters. Lex continued to push the boat further into the water as Hannah tried to row. But the crowd continued to gain on them. <br/>
“Keep rowing Banana” Lex hissed as she tried to push the boat some more. The water was almost up to her mid-thigh now and she was starting to slow down. But the crowd of people was still moving towards them and in a split second Lex made a decision her eyes darted up to meet her sisters.<br/>
“I love you Banana.” she said as she gave the boat one last push before turning to face the oncoming crowd.<br/>
“Lexi!” Hannah screamed as the boat continued to drift further towards the mainland. Her sister gave her one last smile over her shoulder.<br/>
“I’ll hold them off Banana. You keep going. It’s okay. I promise.” </p><p>And then the crowd was upon her. She held the pistol strongly as she turned and fired at her attackers but there was simply too many of them. It was all Hannah could do to watch her sister as she was overwhelmed and disappeared into the crowd of people and then she was gone.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The boat continued to drift slowly out towards the mainland as Hannah sat stunned staring at where her sister had once been.</p><p><em> “Keep going </em>” a voice sounded in her head. If she hadn’t just witnessed her sisters death Hannah might have noticed that this wasn’t the normal warm female voice of Webby as she moved to start rowing the boat towards the mainland but was instead lilting and male. She might have also noticed that the bridge separating Hatchetfield and Clivesdale was no longer lifted and that traffic moved across it as it had any normal day. But Hannah didn’t notice these things and the girl continued to row and row as the boat moved slowly across the lake. Away from the island of Hatchetfield until it bumped softly against land once more. </p><p>Hannah had managed to land on a small beach on the other side of the lake and she slowly dropped the oars her arms exhausted.<br/>
“Hello, little girl.” A voice sounded from behind her as she turned to look at the source. A couple stood on the beach looking at her. The man was wearing a suit and tie like he had just come from work and the woman wore shorts and a white blouse. A bandage was wrapped around one of her legs.</p><p>“My name is Paul.” The man gestured to himself. “This is Emma. Welcome to Clivesdale.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I am so sorry...<br/>Actually, I'm not this is an apotheosis fic what were you expecting.<br/>I hope you enjoyed it this has been my brain baby for SO LONG and it's nice to finally have it out!<br/>Comments are appreciated but just you reading is reward enough!<br/>See you next time!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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